The Press-Dispatch
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Gray sentence for Level 1 felony upheld By Andy Heuring Press-Dispatch News news@pressdispatch.net An Otwell man who pleaded guilty to a Level 1 felony charge of child molesting and was given the maximum sentence of 50 years, appealed the sentence. Timothy Gray, 56, of Otwell appealed his 50 -year sentence on charge of child molesting claiming the Pike Circuit Court had "abused it discretion in sentencing and that his sentence is inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and his character." The Court of Appeals of Indiana reviewed Gray's appeal and filed their findings on De- cember 19, 2022. On May 23, 2021 Gray was arrested after a neighbor went to Gray's basement door trying to find Gray to tell him a water in- spector was there to test his water. The neighbor said he "had a hard time believing what he was seeing." According to the court the neighbor said he saw Gray performing a sex act on one young girl, while a girl less than 10 was per- forming a sex act on Gray. The neighbor took the girls to their moth- er's house and the mother called police. Gray then fled the area driving at a high rate of speed with police pursuing him. When the Department of Child Services interviewed the girls they told a story of Gray repeatedly having sex with them, showing them pornography and even buy- ing them a sex toy and thong underwear for them to dance for him. They told officials it had been going on nearly daily for a year. When police stopped Gray after he drove away from the scene at high rate of speed they asked Gray if he knew why he was be- ing stopped. Gray said, "I did not do it. I swear I did not do it." Later in an interview Gray admitted the incident seen by the neighbor, but said the child had "asked him to do it and that he just wanted to make her feel good." A stepdaughter testified at Gray's sen- tencing hearing in Pike Circuit Court that Gray had touched her inappropriately when they took showers together and he would show her pornography. During the sentencing hearing it was shown Gray had three prior felony convic- tions all involving children. Gray in his appeal claimed the court erred by "failing to give mitigation weight to his argument that he is unlikely to com- mit another crime." The appeals court responded to that claim stating, "We have observed, however, that a defendant who repeatedly abuses a child is not unlikely to commit another crime." The court also cited that Gray's step-daugh- Mason's General Store helps PC students By Mendy Ross Correspondent news@pressdispatch.net The Mason's General Store is a new re- source for Pike Central Middle and High school students. According to PCMS teach- er Mrs. Christine Waddell, the mission for "Mason's General Store" is to provide "free" clothing and other necessities to students by creating a store shopping experience. The new store is conveniently located inside the school. The store's name is inspired by Pike Cen- tral teacher Mr. Ivan Mason, who was a ded- icated educator for 40 years who loved the students. Originally the name of the store was go- ing to be called "The Charger Closet." How- ever, after Waddell spoke with PCMS Princi- pal Mrs. Mindy Keeker, she (Keeker) spoke of Mr. Mason's family owning a store when he was little called Mason's General store in Pike County. "She (Keeker) thought it would be neat to somehow name it after him," said Waddell. "That's how it evolved and stuck." According to Waddell, Mr. Mason spent his life serving others, and led by example with his generous spirit and Charger Pride. The Mason's General Store will serve any PCMS or PCHS student. The goal for Mason's Gen- eral Store is to be a community and school collaboration to help students look and feel their best. They will provide a shopping ex- perience where students can pick out cloth- ing, shoes, coats, socks, school supplies, and hygiene products. Before Christmas, some students were able to shop and pick out coats, hats, gloves and some other things. "It's so rewarding watch- ing them shop," Waddell said. One shopper re- sponded while smiling ear to ear, "I can't be- lieve this, I can pick whatever I want? " Wad- dell said that once the shop is set up, "I real- ly think this project is going to be utilized to the fullest." Waddell wants to thank all the generous people in the school and community who have helped so far, especially The Pike County Community Foundation, Sisson Steel LLC, Pike Central students, left to right, standing: Emma Brock, Vivien Frasure, kneeling: Claire Bolin and Halie Brock vol- unteered after school to help set up the new Mason's General Store, which provides "free" clothing and other necessities to students by creating a store shopping experience. $1.00 24 PAGES Four SECTIoNS oNE INSErT PETErSBurG, IN 47567-0068 WEdNESdAy, dECEmBEr 28, 2022 PIKE PUBLISHING VoLumE 152, NumBEr 50 NEWS TIPS Phone: ���������������������812-354-8500 Email ����� editor@pressdispatch�net INSIDE Local ����������������� A1-6 On the Record ����� A5 Sports �����������������B1-3 Obituaries ���������������B5 With This Ring ��������B5 Home Life ������������C1-3 Year in Review ���A1-C4 Classifieds ���������� C5-6 Church �������������� D1-6 History �������������������D3 Opinion ������������������D5 uSPS 604-34012 See GR AY on page 2 See STORE on page 2 JANUARY • Vincennes teen Jordan L. Schatz, 18, escaped from a Ford Ranger truck that went off an em- bankment and overturned into a deep ditch. The passenger compart- ment was completely submerged. Po- lice said Schatz missed the turn and went over the edge of a culvert. She complained of neck pain and was taken to the hospital by Pike Coun- ty EMS. • A COVID strike team operated by the Indiana National Guard set up shop at the Petersburg Little League Park from Wednesday to Saturday. • Pike Central's wrestling team won the Salem Six Invitational. Sev- eral wrestlers were 5 -0 on the day for the Chargers including Kylee Bak- er at 106, Jon Cannon at 182, Corey Goeppner at 195, and Conner Sim- mons at 220. • The Disney family of Otwell escaped with bumps and bruises af- ter the van Christian, Elizabeth and their children were riding in hit a patch of ice and crashed off the Ca- to-Winslow road and rolled over. • The Town of Winslow signed a five-year deal with the Patoka Fire District to provide fire protection for Winslow. Town Clerk-Treasur- er Corbin Dixon broke a 1-1 tie vote on the action. Debra Lamb voted for the contract and Councilman Dick Brewster voted against it. Council- man Josh Popp, who is a member of the Patoka Fire Department, ab- stained from the vote, forcing Dix- on to break the tie. • The Pike County Highway workers placed large concrete barri- ers along Harvest Lane in the Mead- owbrook Addition. The route is being used as a detour for Highway 61 traf- fic in and out of Petersburg from the north. The barriers prevent semi- trucks from being able to make the turns and get into residents' yards. • Denny Weitkamp was named Pike County's Veterans' Service Of- ficer. • Active COVID cases explod- ed in early January. In a two-week period the number of active cases jumped from 62 to 124. • Pike County Schools tweaked their COVID policy. They reduced the quarantine for someone testing positive from 10 days to five days if they are asymptomatic. It also al- lowed someone testing positive, but asymptomatic to return to school on day six without a mask. • They also reduced the distance requiring a quarantine after expo- sure to a positive person from six feet to three feet. • Sherri Sebella joins The Press-Dispatch staff. • COVID numbers continued to rise as 209 new cases were reported in the last seven days. Pike County School instituted two days of eLearn- ing because of staff shortages due to a high number positive tests among staff. • Pike-Gibson Water announced a 14.3 percent increase in water rates beginning with the February bill. • Albany Ashley was crowned Pike Central's basketball homecom- ing queen. • Timothy Gray, 55 of 2370 N. Spring St., Otwell was sentenced to 50 years in prison after he plead guilty to child molesting, a level 1 felony. • INDOT announced eight road improvement projects they had planned for the summer season. The projects ranged from a street scape project, replacing sidewalks, curbs and street lights, a new water- line, stop lights, drainage issues, re- habbing Highway 61 and paving Pike Ave. and Highway 57. • Jon Cannon at 182 pounds and Corey Goeppner at 195 pounds were both runners-up at the Pocket Ath- letic Conference wrestling champi- onships. FEBRUARY • Fire destroyed the camper of Mike and Jamie White. The fire was noticed at about 2 a.m. Fire Chief Ross Elmore said the Whites had been burning some items during HAPPY Year in Review: Looking back and the first third of 2022 See REVIEW on page C-3 Feb. 9 — Neriah Glispie sails off a jump in Hornady Park on Saturday afternoon. From Thursday through Sunday there were about 20 people of all ages sledding in the park.